


The Name of Stone

by CoatTheBoneless



Category: Kingkiller Chronicles - Patrick Rothfuss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-10-12 21:43:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17475509
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoatTheBoneless/pseuds/CoatTheBoneless
Summary: A gift I gave torebellious-mageon tumblr for the 2018 kkc holiday gift exchange. Elodin agrees to teach Fela naming!





	The Name of Stone

Fela was staring at Elodin. What he was doing wasn’t particularly strange, for him. But the fact that he was balanced on one of the parapets of Stonebridge, and the fact that he was here when the sun wouldn’t rise for another few hours, _that_ was odd.

What Elodin was doing, specifically, might be called dancing. The high kicks and flailing hands looked almost comical as the master namer strutted back and forth over the river. But a last detail caught Fela’s eye that turned her confusion to worry; his eyes were shut tight.

“Master?” She called over to him. He didn’t stop.

Fela set down what she was working on and walked over to him. “Master Elodin?”

“Yes?” came a distracted reply.

“What are you doing?”

“Conducting an experiment, E’lir Fela.”

Fela paused in confusion for a brief moment before pressing on. “What are you researching?”

Elodin’s face took on a decidedly annoyed look. “Things you wouldn’t appreciate.” He paused in the flailing of his right arm long enough to give her a quick shooing motion. “I’m sure you have more important things to do.”

She did. She had far better ways to spend her time, rather than attempt to keep this condescending master from falling headlong into the river. She could continue towards the University to her room and whatever sleep she could get before tomorrow’s classes, for example.

“Master, please,” Fela implored. “Please stop, you’ll hurt yourself. For both of our sakes,

conduct your experiments somewhere else.”

Elodin opened his eyes for just long enough to give her a stern look as his foot landed on a stone that wobbled slightly under his weight. “I assure you, E’lir. This is the place in which my experiment must be held. Now, let me conduct it in peace.”

She should get back. She should go to bed. But something about this scene gave Fela’s sleep-deprived mind pause. She sat on the stone parapet opposite the master’s and watched. For several minutes Elodin continued his dance and Fela found it almost hypnotic, if she could forget where they were. In fact, she felt herself slumping forward, propping up her head in her hands, her eyelids drooping.

But, just as she was on the cusp of sleep Elodin turned, looked her in the eye, and made a short hop backwards into empty space.

Fela was instantly jerked awake but instead of a shout of “no!” as she was expecting, something else came out. And suddenly Elodin wasn’t falling anymore. He grinned at her, obscured by the bridge up to his waist.

As Fela rushed over to him, he gestured down at his feet. “That was awfully gracious of you, E’lir. My thanks for preventing my fall into the Omethi.” She peered over the side to find that he was standing upon a ledge of stone that hadn’t been there before, as if the cobbles had been drawn like a drawer out of the bridge itself.

She looked sharply at him. Had she truly called the name of stone? Or had he called it and she hadn’t noticed? It couldn’t possibly have been her, could it? Her throat hurt terribly, as if she’d been screaming for an hour. She suddenly felt a bit lightheaded, stumbled, but managed to keep herself upright.

Elodin had vaulted over the parapet and was at her side, holding out arms to catch her in case she fell. She stood back up and exploded with exasperation and anger, yelling around her suddenly burning throat.

“What were you thinking? How could you possibly know that I’d catch you? Why in the name of Tehlu’s charred corpse did they ever make you a master?”

Elodin’s smile only morphed into a smirk. “Now that hurts, Re’lar Fela. And I didn’t!” He let out a short, barking laugh at her expression. “How would you like to study under me?”

**Author's Note:**

> [Find me on Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/coat-the-boneless)   
> 


End file.
